


Doki Doki Dere Love

by Retrodame



Category: Actually Stephen, DanPlan
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Attempted Murder, I'll add more tags later, M/M, Multi, Murder, References to Machbeth, Slapstick, Tsundere (Type B), Yandere, deredere
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-14
Updated: 2020-01-14
Packaged: 2021-02-27 10:54:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,941
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22256026
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Retrodame/pseuds/Retrodame
Summary: ((Written with Brownie, @stephens-knife on Tumblr))Highschool is a place for growth, learning...and murder?! Stephen is a student caught in the middle of a complicated love square. When three equally lovable senpais chase after his heart, who will he choose?!
Relationships: Hosuh Lee/Jay Ko/Stephen Ng/Joseph Catalanello, Hosuh Lee/Stephen Ng, Jay Ko/Hosuh Lee, Jay Ko/Joseph Catalanello, Jay Ko/Stephen Ng, Joseph Catalanello/Hosuh Lee, Stephen Ng/Joseph Catalanello
Comments: 14
Kudos: 74





	Doki Doki Dere Love

**Author's Note:**

> We're just testing the waters a bit right now, seeing if we should keep this going.

A loud, piercing sound rang through the room, jolting Stephen awake from his peaceful sleep. He groans, rolling over and tries to slam down on the snooze button, missing each time he tries until he’s forced to sit up and face the music-or in this case, alarm. 

There’s a brief moment of him staring at the time, trying to comprehend what the numbers mean before it all clicks, and he screeches as he launches himself out of bed, his frantic yell echoing throughout the empty house: 

“I’M SO LATE, I’M SO DEAD!”

His father stood in the kitchen, preparing to leave for work, one arm already in his crimson jacket as Stephen dashed in.

“Stephen? I thought you left already! You’re going to be late-”

“I know!” Stephen snatched a piece of almost-burnt toast off the counter, grabbed his shoes, before running out the door. 

He shoved the toast in his mouth, trying to get his shoes on as he scrambles to get to the bus stop in time. He’s only managed to get one on before the bus doors close.

“Wait!” He screeches, but the driver doesn’t seem to hear him as the bus drives off. Dingo watches the whole exchange from the back window, clearly pitying him.

Stephen finds the breath to let out a quiet string of curses as the bus gets farther away, grumbling and starting the long run to school as it pulls out of sight. 

He only gets a block or two down the street before the sounds of a car slowing to a stop on the street next to him draws his attention away from his largely futile running attempt. 

An old, vaguely beat up looking red car sits in front of him, the engine not exactly purring as much as… Hissing. The window almost shakes before it lowers, revealing the smiling face of Jo sitting in the driver’s seat. He waves, beckoning Stephen over and he gives a small sigh, relieved that he wouldn’t have to actually run the entire way to school.

Stephen climbed into the passenger’s seat, buckling himself in and slamming the door behind him, though maybe it was a little too hard. Jo didn’t say anything though, so it was probably fine.

“Thanks for giving me a ride, Jo.” Stephen smiled, causing Jo’s face to flush a little. 

“Y-Yeah! No problem. I mean I couldn’t just leave you standing there on the side of the road.”

Stephen smiles again and sinks into the seat, leaning back and sighing happily. “God, you’re a life-saver, know that? I really owe you for this, man.” 

“Don’t mention it, man. I’m happy to help! I stayed up all night finishing my animation project, so I kinda slept in a little.” 

“You should really stop doing that, Jo. Not to show emotions for once in my life or anything, but I, on occasion, have been known to worry about you and your health.” Stephen replied. This was far from Jo’s first all-nighter.

Jo turned away from Stephen as they pulled up to school, so Stephen couldn’t see his face.

“Are you alright? Your ears are really red…” 

“I-I’m fine! ‘Cmon, we should get to class.” Jo quickly parked the car, gathering his things from the backseat and climbing out. Stephen vaguely wondered why he was in such a hurry, as usually being a few minutes late never bothered the ever laid back Jo. 

Stephen made his way to first period, which was fairly far from the door, meaning he would be even  _ later  _ to class. Fun. At least Mr. Mitchels was a chill teacher- for the most part, anyways.

“Oh, Stephen, there you are. What took you so long?” Mr. Mitchels asked upon seeing the violette shuffle through the door, burnt toast in hand.

“I missed the bus again. Jo gave me a ride though, so…” Stephen slumped down in his desk chair, seated right next to Hosuh, a friend of his. They hung out on occasion, and Hosuh seemed to be pretty good friends with Jo, but they weren’t the closest, on account of the year difference. Still, he was nice and helped Stephen ‘study’ for tests (it was technically cheating but he was never caught so it didn’t really count in his mind). 

“Alright. Just please  _ try  _ to be on time tomorrow?” Mr. Mitchels sighed, before beginning his spiel on the Shakespearean play they were going to study. “Now, we’ll be reading Macbeth over the next three weeks, can anyone tell me some recurring motifs and themes found in the play?”

Someone raised their hand behind him. “Ambition?”

“Yes, various characters throughout the play are shown to have intense ambition- for Macbeth, it’s to become king and stay in power. His ambition is his fatal flaw, and it’s the fatal flaw of Lady Macbeth, who you’ll find is even more ambitious than her husband. Anyone else?”

Hosuh raised his hand next. “Appearances being deceptive?”

“Yes, that’s another major theme! When you first meet Duncan, it becomes apparent that he’s far too trusting in appearances, which is  _ his _ fatal flaw. When we get into reading it, you’ll see his sons don’t share Duncan’s fatal flaw, however. How about symbolism? Can anyone here tell me some symbolism found in Macbeth?”

“Blood imagery?” Someone else called out from across the room.

It was at that point Stephen stopped paying attention. He could learn about this later when they went over it during the reading. 

“Hey, Stephen, why were you late? Are you okay?” Hosuh whispered to him, clearly concerned. 

“Oh, no, I’m fine, Hosuh, I just overslept.  _ Again.  _ Jo came by and gave me a ride, though.”

The light in Hosuh’s eyes died for a split second, being replaced with something dark and upset though it vanished before Stephen could really comprehend it. Hosuh gave another sweet smile, leaning slightly closer in his chair towards the other to avoid being called out by the teacher for talking.

“Oh, well that’s good! I’m glad you didn’t have to run all the way here.” 

Stephen nodded. “Yeah, it’s getting chilly out, and I didn’t really have time to dress for the weather.”

He was only wearing an unbuttoned blazer and a white button up shirt, which wasn’t even buttoned all the way. 

“Stephen! You’re going to catch a cold if you keep missing the bus like that! Do you have an alarm?”

“Yeah… I’m too much of a heavy sleeper I guess.” Stephen sighed, boredly drumming his fingertips against the desktop.

“Stephen, Hosuh, please try to pay attention!” Mr. Mitchels frowned, before continuing to talk about Banquo and Fleance, amongst other characters.

Class passed by, mostly uneventful, (to be fair, Stephen wouldn’t know either way, considering he drifted off sometime around 9:30). Hosuh, thankfully, woke him up just before the bell signaling next period and he headed off to class. Unfortunately, he didn’t really know anyone in them and he didn’t do much outside of taking vague notes anyway. 

Time passed and soon he found himself walking to the cafeteria for lunch, already forgetting all the things he was lectured on just minutes prior. 

“Hey Jay!” Stephen waved, causing Jay to jump a little, quickly covering up what he was working on. It was a pale pink sheet of paper, but he couldn’t see what was written on it.

  
  


“Stephen! Hey!” Jay smiled as Stephen sat down next to him. “How are you?”

“Tired. Mrs. Hopps just drones on and on… Her class is so boring…” He huffed, pulling out his lunch.

“Well, if it’s that bad, I can kill her for you. I know this  _ great _ place to hide a body just behind the school-“ 

Stephen laughed. “Great, thanks Jay. Good to know you have my back.”

Jay nodded, blushing a little. “Yeah, of course.”

“So… What are you writing?” Stephen asked, peeking over at Jay’s work.

“Nothing- I- It’s just some science notes. I’m studying for a test.” Jay stuttered.

“Oh, alright. If you need my help, let me know! I’m fairly good at science, so…”

Jay nodded, flustered over something. “Yeah! Yeah of course. Thanks Stephen.”

Stephen just smiled, which made Jay even more flustered for some reason. He was about to ask why he was so red when his stomach growled, reminding him that a single slice of burnt toast wasn’t going to tide him over all day and that he should really focus on eating. So he let it go, choosing instead to start digging into his lunch and watching Jay scribble on his note page out of the corner of his eye.

Lunch passed, then his last two classes, and finally school was done. As Stephen stood from his desk, he noticed a familiar pale pink note crumpled up by the trash. Why would Jay throw out his science notes? Maybe it was something else. He decided to pay it no mind and left the class, quickly forgetting about it.

Stephen soon arrived at the bus stop. Boredly, he kicked a small pile of leaves as he waited for his friend, Dingo.

“Hey! So you managed to get here after all.” Dingo smiled, strolling up next to Stephen. 

“Yeah.” Stephen replied. “Jo drove me here, thankfully.”

“Oh,  _ did he? _ ” 

Stephen stared at Dingo, confused. “What?”

“Eh, nevermind. What’d y’all talk about? School? Games?  _ Looove _ ?”

Stephen blinked. “No? He looked a bit under the weather, I guess. Why? Is he crushing on someone?”

“From what I’ve seen he’s pretty head over heels for a certain someone~!” 

Stephen blinked. “What? Who is it? Do I know them?” 

“...Uhhh I mean I sure HOPE you know them. It’s kind of impossible for you not to.”

“I don't know who you're talking about? I don’t think I know anyone who would be his type.”

“It’s-! ...Wait whAT? How do you know his type?! And why do you remember it off the top of your head?”

“We were playing Borderlands 3 and he wouldn’t shut up about Amara, and before that he was going feral over Catherine and Manuela in Fire Emblem. It wasn’t hard to discern.”

“Aww~! That’s-! Actually kinda anti-climactic now that I think about it. Kinda lame, really.”

“How else would I have found out he likes girls who can kick his ass? I don’t know why you’re so invested in his love life.”

“Aww, don’t worry about it. You’ll understand when you’re older, kiddo.” Dingo sighs, patting Stephen’s head like he was a kid.

“Oh shush, Dingo, I’m only a year younger than you!” Stephen swatted her hand away.

“Jeez Stephen, I know you can be a bit… all dummy, no thicc sometimes but like. You can’t really not know who Jo’s crushing on right?” 

“Is it someone I hang out with a lot? Hosuh? Jay? They could both probably bench press him. I know Hosuh works out sometimes.”

Dingo takes a deep breath and puts her hands on Stephen’s shoulders. “...Stephen. You’re my friend and you know I love you. But you are so stupid that it’s physically painful sometimes. Please never change, you lovable idiot.”

Stephen was beyond confused at this point. “I’m not-!” He huffed, unable to get the words out.

The bus finally arrived, a little later than usual.

“Sorry kids, traffic’s a bi… bad. Traffic is bad today.” The bus driver said, opening the doors and letting everyone on.

Dingo and Stephen immediately rushed to the back seats, the best spot one could have on a school bus. Their stop wasn’t too far, thankfully, Stephen didn’t have to be stuck with Dingo for very long, just a few minutes as the bus made its way to his block. The bus driver was right, there was quite a bit of traffic.

Several cop cars and news vans passed him, all rushing to the same location, it seemed.

“Huh, wonder what happened.” Dingo mumbled, staring back at them.

Soon enough, the bus dropped Stephen off at his house. He thanked the bus driver out of habit and got off, tiredly walking home. 

The house was quiet when he opened the door, as expected. He was usually alone for a while before anyone actually got home. Usually it gave him the chance to mess around and avoid his homework until his dad came back and gave him the patented ‘Disappointed Father Stare #23’. 

Not wanting to bother with that today, and figuring if he took a nap now he wouldn’t wake up until midnight, he decided to get a headstart on at least SOME of his assigned work. Which he quickly failed at doing about half an hour in, staring at a half done worksheet and letting his mind wander elsewhere. 

He’s snapped out of his daydreaming by a notification on his phone. It’s from Ann, who he hadn’t been able to see today. 

[Ann]: Hey u up?

[Stephen]: no I will not go out and buy you snacks no matter how much you beg or offer to pay me

[Ann]: :(((((( plz

[Stephen]: snack machine broke, perish

[Ann]: no u

[Stephen]: choke I’m not buying you anything 

[Ann]: >:(((( fine. 

[Stephen]: die mad about it strawberry SHORTcake

[Ann]: Ok boomer

[Stephen]: what

[Ann]: Ok boomer

[Stephen]: I have no idea what you’re talking about so I’m just gonna ignore you now peace 

[Ann]: no wait stephen come back!!!!

[Stephen]: steohen machine broke

[Ann]:  _ steohen _

[Stephen]: if I were to kill you right now no one would mourn you or find your body

[Ann]: ok steohen

[Stephen]: im blocking your number now

[Ann]: fine you win steohen. ill stop

[Stephen]: you will die in three days

[Ann]: no u

[Ann]: so i saw u and jay at lunch today

[Stephen]: and you didn’t bother to sit with us?? fucking rude

[Ann]: i didn’t want to interpt. you two were sitting awfully close :3c

[Stephen]: interrupt what my shitty lunch? 

[Ann]: was it shitty? u and jay seemed to be having fun uwu

[Stephen]: 1: ok stalker

[Stephen]: 2: I mean yeah but like the food was still hot garbage as usual idk what ur expectin me to say about it 

[Ann]: i wasn’t talking about the food stephen. spill the tea sis, i think I know what’s going on already

[Stephen]: ??? there’s no tea?? we joked about killing ms. Hopps again and then he was writing science notes the rest of the time and I ate my trash food like idk if that counts as “”””tea”””””

[Ann]: are u sure they were science notes, stephen

[Stephen]: I mean I guess they could’ve been History?? why do u wanna know, it’s not like he’s gonna let u copy them after what happened last month

[Ann]: >:(((( mr johnson is still mad about that

[Stephen]: i mean yeah I imagine he would be it was kind of a huge fuckin thing 

[Stephen]: anyway if u need notes that bad maybe try and pay attention in class for once instead of sleeping p

[Ann]: >:(((( shush ur mom buys you duplex instead of legos

[Stephen]: You take that back right now or so help me, I will ensure there are not enough pieces of you left to bury, wench. 

[Stephen]: >:(

[Ann]: THIS ISNT IMPORTANT AND UR DERAILING THE TOPIC STEOHEN

[Stephen]: what topic???? i told u lunch was shitty

[Ann]: U CANT HIDE IT FROM ME I S A W HOW CLOSE U TWO WERE THERE WAS SOMETHING GOING ON AND I WILL FIND OUT(™)

[Stephen]; ??? We weren’t all that close? i tried to peek over at his notes once but

[Stephen]: idk what ur talking about ann

[Ann]: wow

[Ann]: I know Dingo said ur dumbass levels were peaking today but I didn’t expect this

[Ann]: congrats on surpassing my expectations but also oh my GOD steohen

[Stephen]: i s2g i will block u if you keep calling me steohen

[Stephen]: and i am not a dumbass >:((((((

[Ann]: lmao ok boomer

[Ann]: but srsly u haven’t noticed anything,,,,,,,,

[Ann]: new?? about how jay acts around u??? :0c

[Stephen]: i mean

[Stephen]: he got a haircut in september??? That’s really all i’ve noticed

[Ann]: jadhsndidiwjdkisjsjfisjs

[Ann]: ur killing me stephen ur rlly killing me

[Ann]: but also lowkey did u?? like?? the haircut??? :0000 

[Stephen]: yeah? it looks better than his old haircut. He finally left the early 2000s behind, thank god

[Ann]: not what I meant but ok fair and valid

[Ann]: a n y w a y I gotta tell u something before I leave ur oblivious dumbass alone

[Stephen]: oh finally. what

[Ann]: pls pls pls P L S wear some cute clothes tomorrow

[Ann]: i know for a FACT that u own some pastel shit

[Stephen]: ann we don’t talk about my eboy phase

[Ann]: wear it + that cute hair clip I bought u pls pls pls

[Ann]: shut up we both know u wish u could be a soft eboy again 

[Ann]: just do it plssssssssss :((((((((

[Stephen]: if i do will u stop bugging me????

[Ann]: for today yes

[Stephen]: fine >:((((((

[Ann]: :D!!!! 

[Ann]: TAKE A PIC WHEN U WAKE UP AND GET DRESSED ABD SEND IT TO ME SO I CAN MAKE SURE U LOOK 10/10

[Stephen]: i ALWAYS look 10/10 >:(((

[Ann]: right right sorry ur majesty *so u can look 20/10

[Stephen]: better

[Stephen]: ok now leave me alone

[Ann]: uwuwuwuwuwu aww I wub u 2 steohen <33333

Stephen shut his phone off, turning the notifications off to better ignore everyone. He picked his pencil back up, tapping it against the worksheet that had given him so much trouble. His dad would be home soon, at least Stephen could say he tried to get work done.

  
  



End file.
